2012: Resolutions anew
I’m cynical about most things, but when it comes to New Year’s Resolutions, a thing most people are cynical about, I’m genuinely in favor. You should always strive for self improvement, no matter what the avenue.
Earlier, I went through my 2011 resolutions for writing and found I had come up lame. I made three, and all of them centered around a single goal: write with more discipline, consistently. I’m better now than I was, but not nearly where I need to be to make it.
In 2012, I’ll be spending a lot more time tracking my progress of my goals, as I go, something I didn’t do at all in 2011. It’s the main reason people fail with resolutions, they don’t hold themselves accountable. They don’t monitor their progress. I didn’t either. I failed.
So the theme this year is the same. Write with more discipline, consistently. How will I get there?
First thing, I’m going to take each of the following resolutions and break them down into steps. I’ll be printing these steps out and hanging them right above my monitors (that’s right, plural, like all the cool kids) so I don’t ever lose sight of them. I’ll be tracking myself throughout the year. If I fail, it won’t be for absent mindedness.
So? What are the new goals?
1 – Self Publish two short story collections on the major markets (Kindle, Nook, etc.)
This takes the place of the short stories resolution from last year. It’s basically the same thing, just evolved. I’ll need at least eight original short stories to accomplish this, one of which is finished. I’ll also be publishing the individual short stories separately, to get my feet wet in the self publishing world.
Why this matters: It gets me working, with achievable, measurable results. And I can potentially make a little money on the side from it as well. It’ll get my name out there and start (hopefully) developing a platform for my novels later on.
Degree of difficulty: Moderate. Short stories are more manageable, less daunting. I’ve found more success completing them than completing anything related to a novel. The difficulty will be in putting them all together in a collection and selling them, and getting over the fear that I’m going to be ridiculed or torn to shreds for doing so.
Hard mode: I’m making it a goal to have the first collection ready by the end of January.
2 – Submit the “Spyware” story to Writers of the Future
This is much more manageable than the WotF resolution last year. The story is already finished, it just needs to be revised and rewritten. Granted, that may end up being an enormous undertaking as it is. Frankly, the thing needs work. But with only one submission required, and until June to do it, this is very achievable.
Why it matters: I need to get my work out there to the gatekeepers (of sorts) and start to develop that thick skin for rejections. And it’s probably the single best opportunity for instant platform and money.
Degree of Difficulty: Easy. I’d be surprised and extremely disappointed if I failed this one. I have six months to revise a completed story and send it out. That’s it. The goal isn’t even to win, though that would be fantastic, it’s just to play the game.
Hard mode: Win. Any sort of recognition would do, though the grand prize would be an achievement that I could actually be proud of.
3 – Finish the first draft of Curse of the Phoenix
Yup, there it is. The elephant. This is purely an output goal. There are no associated quality metrics that I need to hit. I just need to finish it. I’ll probably need the better part of the year, if not the entirety of it, to complete this one. It’s by far the most important to me, though.
Why it matters: This is the first step to the dream. This is the hardest step. Truthfully, I’ve never felt daunted or worried about any of the steps after this one (perhaps a sign of my naivete). Get it finished and everything opens up.
Degree of Difficulty: Hard. I’ve been trying to do this for damn near a decade now, with all sorts of stories and all sorts of varying degrees of seriousness. I’m invested now, fully. I was invested last year and I barely managed 15% completion over two separate attempts. This is the hardest thing I’ve ever tried to do and I’m desperate to just get over this hill.
Hard mode: Hard enough as is, but if I really wanted to make this harder on myself for the achievement points, I’d task myself to have a novel published by the end of the world end of 2012. It’s doable, especially if I have a first draft done by June. We’ll see.
ANCILLARY GOALS:
4 – Finish Ergaia
This is a vague goal, but by finish I mean have a finished, polished world map and a very rough outline of the history of the peoples there.
Why it matters: It’ll make all my writing easier. Significantly so. Developing an outline of the history of mankind on this world will be like an engine for generating story ideas, which I can use for years to come. And it gives me that one more thing I can hang my hat on. Getting this finished would catapult me to a lot more exciting things for 2013. You know, assuming we’re all still alive.
Degree of Difficulty: Insane. This could actually be a lifetime of work. Almost certainly it’s more than a year’s worth. But I’m not looking for Tolkein level detail here, just a step or two below. Enough to use.
Hard mode: Hard enough, forget about a hard mode. I don’t need all the achievements.
5 – Average two blog posts a week.
This is probably the foundation of a writer’s platform. This is what makes up the base upon which the platform stands. Gotta do it.
Why it matters: I have to have stuff on here to read in order to expect people to ever come here to read my stuff. That’s almost a chicken and the egg scenario, but not quite.
Degree of Difficulty: Easy. It really comes down to coming up with enough ideas for content and being more disciplined with my time. I guess in that light, this could be considered Insanely Hard.
Hard mode: Average four a week. Twitter doesn’t count.
I’ve never been so optimistic about my goals as I am in this moment. Not in any other year. There’s something about 2012 that makes me think really big things are coming. Maybe it’s the impending apocalypse and it would be just my luck to get my ass in gear and get my life together just in time to have the world fall apart.
I really think this is the year. I know that’s a common refrain this time of the year, ever year, but I mean it. I want it. I’m all in.
